Mixtape Diaries, Vol. 3
I’m currently in the middle of making a new mixtape for my music blog, Green Bananas. This is the third in a series of diary-style blog posts documenting the mixtape-making process.
Here are the previous entries:
January 8, 2026
Once you get a decent chunk of songs, it helps to start looking for an opener. No better place to start than the start.
For some reason, the opener is rarely the seed song.
I have no ideas for this mix.
January 9-10, 2026
Notes to myself to add:
- Monkees - “Me and Magdalena”
- Magnetic Fields
- Stars - “Set Yourself on Fire” (But really I meant “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead”)
January 14, 2026
I need to add some Jens Lekman to this thing. His music is always imbued with that romantic feeling I’m looking for. He often uses that great plinky piano sound.
“Become Someone Else’s” sounds right, but there are some summer lyrics in there, which might throw it.
January 15, 2026
Thinking about the tone of the mix. “Incident” definitely has the romance part down, but it also feels like it might be too profound for this mix. I think this mix is going to be about the everyday parts of love.
January 16, 2026
“You Arms Around Me” might be the perfect Jens Lekman song for this. That line, “It’s the hottest day in August,” is the thing holding me back. But the rest of the story is so perfectly mundane and romantic.
8:20pm - Was looking for some Friday night music. Somehow Beach House’s Teen Dream jumped to mind. “Real Love” is probably a really good fit for this. Actually any of these songs. Still holds up. Hasn’t aged a day. “Take Care” is probably even better. More domestic. More everyday.
January 17, 2026
Getting the feeling that I’ve added enough Echoes 1 and I should start taking stock. The playlist is now 44 songs, which is about the same as the original bucket.
Some housekeeping: I will drag Echoes 1 into Echoes Bucket and choose to only add the new songs. The bucket is now 74 songs.
More on mixtapes: